Siddharth Trivedi took money from bookies but returned it: Report

Siddharth Trivedi, the Rajasthan Royals fast bowler who is a prosecution witness in the IPL spot-fixing case, reportedly took money from bookies before returning it after the India TV sting in 2012.

According to a report in the Indian Express , “Trivedi, in his statement, admitted he had taken Rs 3 lakh — in sums of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh — from alleged bookies Deepak Sharma and Sunil Bhatia for session-fixing. But he claimed to have returned the money because he was scared when a sting operation trapped seven players last year. He said the sting was an “eye-opener” and he severed all contact with the duo.”

The Delhi Police recorded Trivedi’s statement on 31 May in the presence of a magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, making it admissible as evidence.

The Indian Express story claims that Trivedi was first introduced to bookies in 2010 by then teammate Amit Singh in Ahmadabad. In 2011, he met Ajit Chandila, who introduced him to another bookie, Deepak Sharma. According to Trivedi, Chandila and Sharma took him to the DLF mall in Delhi and bought him clothes and perfume.

The topic of spot-fixing was only broached in February 2012, at a tournament in Ahmedabad, where Chandila introduced Trivedi to Sunil Bhatia.

Singh and Chandila were both arrested by the Delhi Police in the course of their investigation into spot-fixing. While Singh is out on bail, Chandila remains in custody. Two other Rajasthan Royals players – Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan, were also arrested and are currently out on bail.

The BCCI has suspended Sreesanth, Chavan and Chandila is likely to suspend Trivedi as well.

You can read the full Indian Express story here .